Oscar Kilo wellbeing survey results ‘must not be kicked into the long grass’ says Fed chair

26 February 2024

The latest findings from the national police wellbeing survey have found wellbeing to be of major concern across the police workforce.

Derbyshire Police Federation chair Tony Wetton is determined that ‘something good must come of what is desperate reading’.

Research findings of the fourth annual national police wellbeing survey, which has been developed by the National Police Wellbeing Service, Oscar Kilo and Durham University acknowledges the high levels of motivation that members of the policing workforce have to serve the public, despite a decline in their sense of being valued.

Workloads are high and, while results reveal cops find their work meaningful, the intention to quit has increased to the highest average level since 2019/20 for police officers.

Responding to the findings, Tony said: “Time and again, through surveys or anecdotal evidence, officers have shared the stark realities of working in what most of us still consider to be a vocation. This latest evidence, from 42,000 human beings working in policing, must not be kicked into the long grass.

“Officers are not invincible – they deserve our support and appreciation.”

“Some are brave enough to share when they have hit rock bottom because of the pressures of the job, yet it seems that in some forces there remains little or no investment in officer wellbeing in terms of recognition, time, or money.”

Tony said that in Derbyshire, there has been ‘a lot of investment in officer and staff wellbeing’.

He explained that recently, the Force has seen the re-introduction of occupational health and has welcomed a new head of occupational health, as well as a new post - a health and wellbeing manager.

He added: “Wellbeing is regularly discussed in many of the governance boards and meetings we attend and is seen as very important in Force, although there is still much to do.

“Wellbeing Champions are an important part of the developing wellbeing strategy in Force and we would like to get to a position where every officer has easy access to one so that the issues they face can be quickly communicated with those in a position to address them.

“We encourage the Force to continue to see the importance of looking after its people as a priority, and driving improvements in wellbeing.”

Other findings include high levels of burnout, with 69 per cent of police officers reporting high levels of fatigue.Officers reported anxiety, not being able to recover from stressful incidents, the negative impact of working shifts, difficulty recovering from high work demands through impaired rest days and poor-quality sleep, and difficulty ‘switching off’ outside of working hours.

The summary of research findings will be used to evidence the development of the work of the National Police Wellbeing Service and College of Policing.

In addition, there is an expectation that forces will also address the key themes locally as they continue to develop the role of their local wellbeing officer.

For the full results visit the Oscar Kilo website.